Matt Toomua dominated the prologue, but the main chapters were written by the little fellow opposite. This was Aaron Cruden's night - a masterclass from the All Blacks No.10 - and it did not end there. In the No.9 jersey Aaron Smith handed a lesson to Will Genia that the world's best frequently gives out himself.

Toomua and Cruden have a little bit of history, as the prodigious often do. Even in 2009 the youngsters were facing each other, in the semi-final of the Junior World Championship. Cruden enjoyed that day in Tokyo, guiding New Zealand to a 31-17 win. Progression rarely occurs in steady lines, but of the two, Cruden's development has been stronger. Success has followed him around with such tenacity that much more than luck is involved. He may still look like a teenager, but Chiefs mentor Wayne Smith has already marked him down as a future coach. As a Test player, he arrived against Wales in Cardiff late last year with a composed performance. In short, he is much further advanced in his journey than Toomua. He has already been through the pains associated with growth. Saturday night was Toomua's first taste of those.

Within the first minute, Cruden found himself out wide after a Stephen Moore knock-on set up the assault and he chipped over his opposite. Desperation bundled him into touch but it was a mere reprieve. The forwards got about their work and the gap was eventually found. Cruden sucked in James O'Connor from the wing and offloaded to Ben Smith for the opening try. Recent talk has centred on how out of position O'Connor was at No.10, but it ignored the fact the utility has not played on the wing for years. No-man's land is an apt description for his current status.

But the Wallabies came to play, too, and when they did there were early hints of simplicity and class - too often they are not recognised as being the same thing. Toomua was the fulcrum for switches of play from one side to another and then one play that would have lifted the hearts of those fans in gold - a neat planned midfield move from 10 to 12 to Adam Ashley-Cooper that sliced open the All Blacks. It turned out to be a rare ray of hope, for doggedness is also a quality Cruden can call upon. On the other side of the ditch he hunted down Dan Carter in Super Rugby when the legend was in clearance mode during the Crusaders' visit to the Chiefs. Now, Christian Lealiifano was the victim, dallying a little too long close to his own posts to allow Cruden to effect the charge-down and collapse over the line for the try. Nor was his goal-kicking suspect.

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If it were not for a moment of inspiration from Michael Hooper, quite fabulous throughout, to set up a breakaway try for Genia, the game might have been gone by half-time.

Hopes that it would lead to a revival were short-lived. The mistakes kept coming from the Wallabies and with it the inevitability that the All Blacks would profit. Jesse Mogg tossed the ball to no one. Toomua looked increasingly helpless in his hour of work against the black tide, before Quade Cooper entered with his usual range of errors.

It would have been interesting to plot Ewen McKenzie's thoughts when he assembled this side. Backing greenhorns is one thing but he might have overcooked it. The pressure is so much greater when you can get punished from everywhere. As the points mounted so did the fears - that this was a strong Super Rugby side required to do a Test team's job. The coach will need to regroup with some haste.